Myocarditis refers to localized or diffuse inflammation of the myocardium. Myocarditis can lead to slowing hear beats and irregular rhythms. Myocarditis can be caused by a viral infection or can be the result of cardiotoxic agents (drugs, toxins, and alcohol), or autoimmune disease. Diagnosis by an invasive endomyocardial biopsy is only recommended in patients with evidence for heart failure. As such, it often goes undiagnosed. Thus, there is a need to identify improved methods of diagnosing myocarditis.
Van Heeswijk et al. report selective in vivo visualization of immune-cell infiltration in a mouse model of autoimmune myocarditis by fluorine-19 cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Circulation Cardiovascular Imaging. 2013, 6:277-84. Bonner et al. report monocyte imaging after myocardial infarction with 19F MRI. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015, 16(6):612-20. Gale et al. report gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents. Pediatr Radiol. 2017, 47: 507. See also Temme et al. 19F magnetic resonance imaging with targeted perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions. Circulation. 2015, 131:1405-1414.
Kircher et al report positron emission tomography (PET) using the radiolabeled glucose analog [18F]-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-d-glucose (FDG) is a diagnostic test for nuclear imaging of (cardiac) inflammation. Curr Cardiovasc Imaging Rep. 2017, 10(2):6.
Lee et al. report imaging of myocardial inflammation using 68Ga-tagged mannosylated human serum albumin positron emission tomography. Theranostics. 2017, 7(2):413-424. See also Kolodziej et al. Methods Mol Biol. 2014, 1088:185-211.
References cited herein are not an admission of prior art.